Back to Where it All Began
by Plain.Jane.Lewis
Summary: She knew what would happen if she failed. Derek would lose everyone. She couldn't let that happen. She wouldn't let that happen. Rowan sends herself back to six months before the Hale fire to save the man she loves before he becomes the broken man that she knows him as.


Rowan needed to do this. She loved Derek with all her heart, but there was only so much she could do. Derek was broken. Everyone he ever loved was dead and he had nothing left except for an uncle who was had gone psycho, a sister who didn't want to be with him, a group of teenagers who have their own lives to live, and then there was Rowan. She couldn't fix the damaged man. She tried so hard, but he was too far gone in his own anger and despair to ever truly let himself be happy again. He can't let go the past and Rowan knew of only one way to change that. Change the past.

Rowan wanted the man she loved to let go of the pain and anger that he carried and she was going to do whatever it took. So, she here she sits in her bedroom, gathering everything she would need. "Please let this work." She whispers as she threw the last of her things into her duffle bag. She was taking the essentials. Clothes, her toothbrush, money, her spellbooks… her familiar. "Shade, don't be such a whiner, this is for Derek, so just be a good kitten and get in the damn bag." She snapped, pointing at her bag while looking at the black cat that was glaring at her with its orange eyes.

No.

"Shadow, you know the only way I can take you with me is if you are carried. I can't carry the bag, the book, and you." Shadow jumped and landed on the book with a smug look. "And now I can't read and if you forget the spell will spin us into the time hole, you will fly off it and land in some other time. You are only safe inside the bag. I need to hold tight to the book."

Rowan.

"Shadow, please. For Derek." Shadow continues to glare. "I wouldn't ask you to do this if it wasn't important." The cat jumped off the book and walked towards the bag. It sniffed it and gave a look of disdain. "Those are clean clothes, Shade, and those are my potion ingredients, don't pull that face. Those are all smells you're used to. Don't make excuses." The cat huffs before crawling inside the bag. "I'll leave a small opening so you can breathe." She zipped the bag almost completely shut before pulling the strap over her head and tightening it to ensure it would not come loose. "Alright, it's now or never." She looked down at the book, holding it tightly in her hands as she reads out the spell. The lights begin to flicker around her and the wind begins to pick up. She continues to read as the room plunges to darkness and the wind seems to come from within her room now. She continues to read even as her feet leave the ground and she begins to fly through the darkness.

Colors shot out from everywhere as she got towards the end of the spell. Finally, everything stops. Rowan lands hard on her butt in the middle of the woods. The woods that she knew. It was the preserve, it was a bit different, but that's because it is the preserve seven years ago, there was bound to some differences.

Let me out!

"Oh, sorry, Shade." Rowan took the bag off her back and unzipped it fully to let Shadow out. The little cat crawled out and puked a few tiny paws away. "You okay?"

I hate traveling through time, it always makes me sick.

"Sorry, buddy. Promise we won't do it again."

Does that mean you're staying in this time period?

"Well, I can't very well go back, there won't be anything to go back to once I change things."

Where do we start?

"Good question." Rowan sighs. "I technically don't exist anymore. That spell causes me to be erased from history and then it sends me to where ever I want. I've officially become a time traveler."

And you will stay in this time period?

"Yeah, but now I got to figure out how. I need to somehow make an identity for myself."

Go to Talia and Peter. Peter used to boast how he and his sister were very rich and how they used to make new ids for their special-cased omegas.

"To do that though I need to get them to trust me."

The Hales trust easier in this time period. Talia isn't the type to want to cause war. She's all about peace and safety for her pack. She's about having a normal life. That's what Peter always complained about. She rather make alliances than to kill those that would oppose them.

"So, I go to them and tell them what? I'm from the future and I've come back to save your family?"

You have the book. Show them the spell and then show them your magic. That'll convince them and if not tell them to look you up. You won't exist. They'll have to believe you and they can tell if you're lying. Who better to go to then the people you came to help?

"Very well, if you think it's my best course of action."

It is. Plus you're Derek's mate.

"Even if I took myself of history?"

You took all the information about you out of history and the you that exists in this period has been erased, but your soul still belongs with Derek. You can erase the bond that you share with him. The spell made it so that any information of you is gone and the you from this time has been replaced by the you of now.

"So, I'm not exactly erased, but there's also no documentation of me."

Yes.

"Wonderful. So I still will be with Derek, just now it'll be a tad different and I have to get documentation too." Shadow nods. "Which I can only get from the Hales who I first must get to trust me." Again Shade nods. "Alright, first things first. The Hales."

Maybe you should try to bond with Derek first?

"It might be better to get Talia to trust me first, Shade." The cat shrugs and begins to the lead the way through the woods. Rowan rezips her bag, pulls the strap over her head, and grabs her book before running to catch up with her familiar.

The Hale property was right on the line of the preserve, so it didn't take long before they crossed the line and almost immediately Rowan heard the howls. "Showtime." She whispers.

Just relax and do not show any threat.

"Got it. Stay relax and make them realize I come in no harm." Shadow nods.

The house was getting closer, she could see it through the tree line and she can also see people waiting for her. She took a deep breath and broke through the trees. Peter looked just like he did in the future, just younger and with tad longer hair. There was a woman standing beside him that could be no one except Talia Hale. Her eyes were the same blue as Peter's, while her hair was very dark. It was hard to see in the dark. The light of the house only illuminated her face. The house! The house was gorgeous, just as Derek described. It was huge and beautiful. Three floors, a gentle yellow color with stone for the first-floor walling, and it was also very long. It was truly a mansion, just like Derek told her.

"Who are you?" Talia asks. Her voice was strong and fierce. There held a power in it that almost made Rowan want to bow. The strength of Talia was so strong that Rowan could almost taste it.

"My name is Rowan Hathaway. I've come to speak to you, Alpha Talia." Rowan bowed her head and exposed her neck to show respect and submission, much like Derek had taught her. "I mean no harm and wish only to talk with you."

Talia is quiet for a moment and in that moment Rowan's body was tight with tension and nerves. Her heart was racing, she knew they could hear it, but she didn't bother to try to hide it. "Come inside." Rowan lets out a soft sigh of relief before lifting her head and walking towards Talia, Shadow right beside her.

"Mom, what's going on?" Rowan's breath catches as she sees Laura for the first time, the first time alive. She was beautiful long brown hair, bright blue eyes, pale skin. She looked just like Talia. Derek must take after his father.

"We have a guest." Talia says simply as she leads Rowan into the house. The house's inside was just as breathtaking. It had a very sophisticated and elegant look about it, while still feeling homey and warm. Talia leads her to the back of the house and towards what she could only assume was Talia's office. "Please have a seat. Laura, be a dear and get a glass for our guest." Laura hurried off, while Rowan takes a seat in front of Talia's desk. Talia moved to take a seat in her chair and looked at Rowan. "You're a witch." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. Shadow hops up and curled up on Rowan's lap, it seemed as if he was being affectionate, but she knew it was so he could be close to her in order to protect her.

"Yes, I know you will find this hard to believe," She motions to her bag. "May I?" Talia nods. Rowan unzips her bag and pulls out her book. "I used this spell just moments ago. I know this will be hard to believe, but I assure you I am not crazy nor am I lying." She opened the book and placed it before Talia. "It allows me to travel to any year that I wish, but in doing so it erases any information about me and then replaces the younger version of me with… well this me. You won't find anything on me, which is why I could use your help in creating a new identity. I was told you had the power and resources to do that." Talia simply hums as she looks at the spell. "I am from six years in the future and I came back to… Well, to rewrite history." Talia looks up at that.

"Rewriting history is a tricky business."

"But in this case, it is very important." She explains. "I met your son, Derek, a year before in my time period." Talia's eyes shot up to look at Rowan once more. "He just lost Paige, right? The girl he cared for. He tried to turn her, but she rejected the bite."

"How do you know this?"

"Because your brother, Peter, he told our pack."

"Our pack?" She asks.

"Yes, Derek is alpha in my time period. He's the alpha and Peter and a group of teenagers make up his pack."

"What of his sisters and the rest of his family." Rowan takes a deep breath before pulling out a picture from her bag.

"This is what your house will look like in six months." Rowan laid the picture of the burned Hale house down. "Derek is hurting very badly right now and a woman will come into town and try to manipulate him. She will succeed and he will unknowingly give her the information that will kill you all. Peter will be the only one to survive the fire, but he'll spend six years in a coma. The fire really messed Peter up. I don't know how he is now, but Derek told me that he had once been a very kind and loving uncle."

"He is." Talia reassures.

"Well, in six years he kills your daughter so that he can become alpha and take revenge on the people who killed his family. Derek spends the rest of his life hating himself and blaming himself for the fire. I'm telling you all this because I want to prevent all of it from happening. I want to prevent the Argents from killing you all."

"Why? It's not just because Derek is the alpha of your pack that you'd come all the way into the past to save his family." Rowan gives a sad smile.

"Because I'm his mate and I need to help Derek. He becomes so broken in the future and… I don't want him to feel that kind of pain and guilt anymore. He's angry all the time and he never lets himself be happy. He loves me, I know he does, but he does everything in his power to push me away. To make me hate him because he's afraid to love again. Kate Argent made him fear love. I want to change that. I want to give Derek the future that he always should have had." Talia stares at her completely speechless. Rowan knew it was a lot for Talia to digest, but she needed Talia to hear it as soon as possible.

"Mom, Laura asked me to bring this to you. She said you had a guest." Rowan closes her eyes as she hears his voice. It was much higher and softer than it will be in six years time, but it is still him. She would know that voice anywhere. Derek.

She opens her eyes and sees Talia staring at her. "Derek, I want you to meet someone. This is Rowan Hathaway, she will be staying with us for a while." Rowan took in a shaky breath before turning and meeting Derek's eyes.

She felt that familiar electricity rush through her body, while her breath catches in her throat, and everything around the two of them fades away. She doesn't even hear Derek drop the glass. Her full attention is on him. His beautiful dark green eyes, his black soft hair. He is shorter and thinner than he is in the future, he hasn't gotten the muscles that he has in his twenties, but he still handsome and sexy. All she wants is to run to him and kiss him.

"Rowan." She forces herself to look away from Derek and turn to Talia, who was smiling openly at her. "I believe you. You shall stay with us and help us save our family."


End file.
